The P-16 Initiative led by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Service Learning Academy is changing the lives of P-12 students, university students, and the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet the needs of their clients. Originally funded by Learn and Serve America in 2010, the P-16 Initiative was developed to build capacity in the Omaha community to implement co-created service learning projects which engage youth in learning and meet defined community needs.

Development of the P-16 Initiative was stimulated by a growing awareness that more than 70% of students enrolled in Omaha Public Schools are eligible for free/reduced lunch and that research revealed disadvantaged youth showed a steady decline in academic performance from elementary to middle school. These same students become increasingly less engaged with the learning process and are at greater risk of dropping out entirely. The P-16 Initiative was launched in an effort to reduce these trends by giving P-12 students the opportunity to participate in an engaging learning experience and spend time on a university campus.

During each academic year two Service Learning Seminars are provided to UNO faculty members and P-12 teachers. These week long seminars provide both sets of educators an opportunity to develop a thorough understanding of the K-12 Service Learning Standards for Quality Practice. Consistent with the goals of the Seminar, attendees report increased awareness of service learning related concepts and organizations (42% pre-seminar up to 97% post-seminar) as well as increased feelings of preparedness to plan and implement service learning projects (48% pre-seminar up to 98% post-seminar).

These seminars also provide the indispensable opportunity for these educators to form relationships with one another, and meet with leaders in the nonprofit community to define joint, sustainable service learning projects. The P-16 Initiative offers vital ongoing support to the teacher teams in the form of graduate assistants assigned to each project to manage the project’s logistical details.

Since 2010, 101 P-12 teachers and 31 university faculty members have completed the Service Learning Seminar. Faculty teams have co-created 99 service learning projects that have brought 3,633 P-12 and 1,347 university students together to serve diverse community agencies such as Boys and Girls Clubs, El Museo Latino, Intercultural Senior Center, Malcolm X Foundation, and Joslyn Art Museum. Each of the P-12 students made at least one visit to the UNO campus where they have worked side by side with their university student colleagues and experienced a taste of university life. Initial survey results of both sets of students revealed that students are engaging in their service learning experiences and understanding future connections:

• My teacher/professor helped me to understand the connections between the class learning goals and the service learning project. (level of agreement: higher education 91%, secondary 90%)

• I can use what I learn in school to solve problems in the community. (level of agreement: higher education 88%, secondary 80%)

• In the future, I will help solve problems in my community. (level of agreement: higher education 96%, secondary 85%)